An Excess of Water in Vietnam

Officially it is the dry season at the beginning of November in Vietnam. However, the roads into An Phu Village in Hon Quan district were virtually impassable due to the abnormal amount of rain that has fallen across Asia over the last couple of months.
 

John and Lan Dean had just returned to Vietnam on 7^th November following three weeks of deputation with churches in Tasmania. They had one recovery day before being joined by Colin Scott, the COCOA Program manager. Together they set out on a three day tour of the COCOA projects in Binh Phuoc.
 

The first evening was spent sharing a meal together with Miss Thom, the Vice Chairman of Tan Xuan Village. She added a special request for another COCOA house for a family in need. Then the following morning they were met by the principal at the Ethnic Minority High School in Dong Xoai who led them on a tour of the school projects COCOA has funded. The Mushroom Lab is still flourishing with students learning how to produce a good return of oyster mushrooms from a small outlay of funds and add vital protein to their diet. Students were tending the sprouts growing in the Clean Vegetable Lab. The group visit to an English language class resulted in Colin being asked to sing a song in English for them!
 

The afternoon visit to Tan Phuoc Village coincided with the handing over of two new COCOA houses and then a COCOA well at the local Tan Phuoc ‘B’ High School. The following morning was spent viewing the houses and wells in Dong Tien and Dong Tam Villages that have been funded through COCOA donations. It was good to renew acquaintances with an older lady in the village who received a house in 2005.

The last morning was the anticipated visit to An Phu Village, the site of COCOA’s first project after registration, where 15 wells and later a two classroom school were built. The group could only manage to see one well and the school due to the inclement weather and the resultant condition of the road.